USDA Forest Service Botany in the News
Wayne National Forest - Native Plant Rescue: Saving Our Natural Heritage
Who (partners): Wayne NF, Hocking College, Rural Action Appalachian Resource Center,
Ohio University, United Plant Savers, Frontier Natural Products Cooperative, and the National
Forest Stewardship Program.
What: Volunteers from Native Plant Rescue and Ohio University assisted Forest Service
personnel in salvaging many native plants from the future site of the U.S. Highway 33 bypass
that will cut through the Wayne National Forest. Many important medicinal plants including
Goldenseal (Hydrastis canadensis), black and blue cohosh (Actaea racemosa and Caulophyllum
thalictroides), bloodroot (Sanguinaria canadensis) and other medicinal and native plants.
When: September 2006
Where: Eastern Region, Wayne National Forest
How: Volunteers from Native Plant Rescue and Ohio University salvaged plants from the
future highway corridor. Some plants have been placed in native plant beds for seed production
for future restoration projects, public enjoyment and education. The beds are located behind the
Athens Ranger District Forest Service Office. Some species will be maintained to harvest seed
that will be used in future restoration projects on the Forest. A number of the salvaged plants
were transplanted into young, disturbed forests on the Wayne NF. These species will increase
the diversity of these forests.
Why: The Wayne NF provides important habitat for many native species of medicinal plants.
Many of these species’ populations are declining due to loss of habitat from rural development
and harvesting pressures. The locally adapted genes of these salvaged species will be protected
and preserved. Many generations in Appalachian Ohio have come to depend on the harvest of
medicinal plants to provide supplemental income and alternative medicines.
Contact: Cheryl Coon, Wayne National Forest, Forest Botanist (740) 753-0558.
White trillium, one of the many
Species transplanted during the
Salvage project. Photo courtesy
Of Rural Action.
Volunteers plant black cohosh
and other species in beds on the
Wayne National Forest. Photo
Courtesy of Rural Action.
Tanner Filyaw salvages
plants from the highway
corridor. Photo courtesy
Of Rural Action.